Within days of the megalithic closing, uniting the entertainment empire of Warner Bros. with the unknown power of Discovery, mogul David Zaslav laid out his vision for Hollywood giant United on Thursday at City Hall with the Burbank team.
In a conversation with Oprah Winfrey, Zaslav learned how the merger with AT&T CEO John Stanke escalated from a reality check, reiterated his respect for the Warner Bros. and discussed work options. Winfrey asked if there was a final plan for “a great channel of flow”, to which Zaslav replied in the affirmative.
“That’s where we’re going,” Zaslav said of the idea of a single streaming platform combining HBO Max and Discovery+ with caution: “It’s going to take some time” for technology to make that happen.
Zaslav added, according to the source: “We have almost 40 channels every night, 40% of Americans watch one of our channels, so we created a platform, but we have so much content that we have to figure out how.” Do we use this content for food?”
The next leadership step will be to integrate the teams and then take steps to figure out where the roughly $3 billion in synergy that is part of the business logic will come from. (At the time of the merger announcement in May 2021, the plan was to invest those savings into spending additional content.) In response to Winfrey’s question, which seemed to indicate synergies or cost reductions, Zaslav asked the team to be “patient with us.” “. “Because” will take some time and we will try to be as transparent, honest and direct with you as possible. We were, we were a company that grew through acquisitions. ”
Winfrey pushed for a synergy of more than $3 billion in estimated spending, and Zaslav reiterated his position that “spending avoidance” is also being considered. “We don’t know exactly how it’s going to work,” Zaslav told the team. “But at $3 billion, I would put it in multiple categories. One is that there are a lot of deals that Warner is in and Discovery is not in and vice versa.
The CEO added: “I would say most of the savings will be investment avoidance. For example, we would spend $600-800 million to promote Discovery+, Warner would spend $800-1 billion to promote HBO Max. With a single platform, this type of expense will not be duplicated, explained the executive.
As another example, Zaslav talked about hiring engineers on a streaming platform. “We had in our plan to hire many more engineers. “Now that we’re together, we have thousands of engineers … so there’s a lot to avoid spending,” he said.
Zaslav was also asked about remote working in the wake of the pandemic and how workplace culture has changed in the two years since the COVID-19 shutdown affected offices and products. “I don’t think we’ll be back five days a week,” Zaslav said of working at the office, “but I really believe in being together.”
The CEO explained, “You are not building a narrative around Zoom. You won’t have a mentor on Zoom.”
AT&T and Discovery Inc. completed a $43 billion merger on April 8 to form Warner Bros. Discovery (traded as “WBD”). The company, which combines streaming platforms like HBO Max and Discovery+, comic book brand DC, networks like HGTV, Food Channel, TNT and Cartoon Network and global news giant CNN, closed the rally at $24.88 on Thursday. fair, just above the closing date. Comparation. .
Prior to the merger, nine AT&T WarnerMedia executives, including CEO Jason Killard and Studios and Networks CEO/CEO Anne Sarnoff, were fired in April. The newly created Warner Bros. Zaslav, head of Discovery, placed his trusted lieutenants among the thirteen CEOs who were promoted and named as senior leaders, including CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels and Kathleen Finch, president and chief content officer of American networks.
Zaslav also announced plans to hire a Director of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, as well as the President and CEO of Warner Bros. to oversee Discovery Sports. The United company now owns major league sporting rights for many leagues in the US, Latin America and Europe, as well as the 2024 Olympics in Europe.
The unification logic came in part from the idea, as Zaslav pointed out when announcing his executive pick, that Warner Bros. would have made the discovery.THE Only Strategic Focus THEYes THE Global clean game Happy The company, which brings together the celebrated Warner Bros. Studio and HBO’s prestigious scripted assets with popular unscripted Discovery such as Magnolia Network. Zaslav was also in the mood for Warner Bros. TV, producer of Apple TV+ ted’s bow and ABC Abbott ElementaryHe describes its February earnings as one of the “leading filler distributors in the industry.”
This still leaves potential duplication in products, equipment, management, human resources and legal functions and other corporate functions, as speculation turns into job cuts. Zaslav, when discussing cost synergies in February, called for gains. Mirroring indicated on HBO Max and Discovery+. “We are currently producing two completely separate direct-to-customer technology marketing portfolios. “We spent about $6 billion on technology and marketing between HBO Max and Discovery+,” Zaslav said.
The AT&T WarnerMedia asset deal is the latest significant move by Discovery from Zaslav, which bought Scripps Networks Interactive, then HGTV, the Travel Channel and Food Network, in 2018 in a $14.6 billion deal. money and stocks. The synergy value of this agreement was initially estimated at US$350 million, but this amount was later increased.
Zaslav’s new team arrives as Warner prepares Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets April 15th in this franchise box office draw test while in the studio bat Man ($737 million worldwide) will launch on HBO Max on April 18. Meanwhile, CNN’s new streaming offering CNN+ is a week away from its March 29 launch date, raising questions about its long-term viability as a standalone service. HBO Max Ultimate Bundle or Ultimate Bundle with Discovery+, released in January 2021, is the plan. Discovery has around 22 million streaming subscribers worldwide, while HBO and HBO Max combine 73.8 million global subscribers.
On Wall Street, Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich released the United Warner Bros. Discovery topped April 13 with a rating of “buy” and a price target of $45, noting that there will be “some volatility in stock prices”. new transaction”. “high debt burden” and AT&T shareholders who may be inclined to sell their shares in the near future.
Speaking at City Hall, Zaslav introduced Warner Bros. Discovery is also well equipped for current streaming and content spending, competing with your assets. “Everyone is trying to find out how they survive,” Zaslav said. “We have everything we needed. Now it’s just work together. ”
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
